“Tech giant Microsoft has revamped its corporate logo for the first time in 25 years. The new design was unveiled this week and has received a range of criticism online,” Jason Fell reports for Entrepreneur. “Some describe the new logo as clean and simple, while others are calling it an outright failure.”

“Among those who think Microsoft’s new logo leaves a lot to be desired is longtime graphic designer John Williams, founder of Nashville, Tenn.-based do-it-yourself logo-creation website LogoGarden.com,” Fell reports. “Williams explains how he thinks Microsoft dropped the ball with its new design and offers advice on how the rest of us can create better company logos.”

• Pick a font that fits your design
• Pick a symbol that looks great even when printed in black and white
• Make sure your font and symbol are a good match

As a designer of things like this, I can say with some authority that sometimes I will throw in a “mulligan” designed to be cast-off in the process of leading the client to the design that I want them to choose…

I wonder if the designer in this case used the same tactic and is now bitterly regretting it. MS will no doubt use this logo for…well, for as long as they remain in business, is my guess. At least I hope they do!

Wrong, actually. It has to work in black and white for all sorts of applications – such as when it appears on product labels or embossed into plastic.

This logo looks like Steve Ballmer himself redesigned it. Or worse, an internal competition. I can just imagine the brief – The Apple logo is bold, simple, modern, so we need to simplify ours. Except they equated simplification with removing any interest. And those colours – what a disaster.

If Ballmer himself had designed it then the word MICROSOFT would be written many times over, using a red crayon held in the fist, and all in capital letters. It would have at least one spelling mistake and several sweaty smudges.

Way off base. Standard craft corrugate boxes as as common now as they were forty years ago. The vast majority with identity are printed in black and white. In addition, white papers and other ultra-dry literature is often created intentionally in black and white. Ghosted white logos are often used as a background element over a photo. As for video, ghosted logos are usually monochromatic as well and monochromatic logos are often used for masks for FX work.

Uh? Who is sinking? Still a great American company and appear to be reengaged. Trust me Apple Execs do not think the way you do as they know that Microsoft is still very much a force to reckon with and will never suggest that as you put it that they are “sinking”.

I get the squares, not a big fan of the font, the M looks very elementary school, the kerning seems off too, the letters seem to get closer as you get to the combined ft. So, the blocks act as the anchor, you naturally begin to read the name but feel hurried at the end… That is microsoft, they nailed it.

I guess the new “symbol” (which is just a “flattened” version the old “curvy” symbol) is supposed to be a bunch of bathroom tiles, to reflect the new Metro interface.

I think the second point about a symbol looking good when printed in black and white is very important. The new Microsoft symbol will look like four black squares. Apple’s symbol is immediately recognizable, ESPECIALLY in black and white.